Monday, March 03, 2014

Its disastrous flirtation with neoliberalism has had anything
but a romantic ending for Qantas.

The once Australian government-owned national carrier,
with its exemplary safety record, had its wings clipped courtesy of Labor Prime
Minister Paul Keating’s privatisation decision.

It is now destined for foreign ownership, or worse, at
the hands of the nation-wreckers in the Liberal Party who, in the space of
months, have overseen the closure or threatened closure of General
Motors-Holden, Toyota, SPC Ardmona and anything else that doesn’t taste of
chocolate.

Under CEO Alan Joyce and his scary band of Directors,
morale at Qantas has plummeted and jobs have been thrown out the window.

At least two of its directors bear that out:Gary Hounsell and Paul Rayner are both on the
board of the very underperforming Treasury Wines Ltd.

Before we look more into the Board, the case for
re-nationalising Qantas must be stated.

An island nation requires the security of controlling the
means by which its citizens may depart from or return to the country.

It cannot place itself at the commercial or political
mercy of foreign-owned carriers.

A government that placed the interests of its citizens
before those of foreign capital would maintain a national airline.

We do not have such a government, or the remotest
prospect of having one, given that Liberal and Labor are two arms on the same
body, the brain of which is incapable of thinking from the perspective of the
independence of the nation and the rights of the people.

Too much attention is focussed in debates around Qantas’ performance
on the CEO, Alan Joyce.

Sure, his ancestors probably sold gunpowder to the
British, but look at his collaborators.

Notice their interlocking directorships and ties to
finance capital, to mining and energy, to construction, to the reactionary
anti-working class legal firm Freehills and corporate criminals like the
tobacco companies.

These are profiles of the ruling class, the class whose
members only have one vote like the rest of us, but who rule by virtue of the
great mismatch between the political and economic forms of democracy.

It is a mismatch that can only be reconciled through the
ownership of economic assets by a state led by the working class, imho.

Leigh
Clifford, AO

BEng, MEngSci

Chairman and Independent Non-Executive Director

Leigh Clifford was
appointed to the Qantas Board in August 2007 and as Chairman in November 2007.

He is Chairman of the Qantas Nominations Committee.

Mr Clifford is a Director of Bechtel Group Inc. and
Chairman of Bechtel Australia Pty Ltd and the Murdoch Childrens Research
Institute. He is a Senior Advisor to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, a Board
Member of the National Gallery of Victoria Foundation and a Member of the
Council of Trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria. Mr Clifford was
previously a Director of Barclays Bank plc.

Mr Clifford was Chief Executive of Rio Tinto from 2000 to
2007. He retired from the Board of Rio Tinto in 2007 after serving as a
Director of Rio Tinto plc and Rio Tinto Limited for 13 and 12 years
respectively. His executive and board career with Rio Tinto spanned some 37 years,
in Australia and overseas.

Age: 66

________________________________________

Alan
Joyce

BApplSc(Phy)(Math)(Hons), MSc(MgtSc), MA, FRAeS, FTSE

Chief Executive Officer

Alan Joyce was
appointed Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Qantas in November
2008.

He is a Member of the Safety, Health, Environment and
Security Committee.

Mr Joyce is a Director of the Business Council of
Australia and a Member of the International Air Transport Association's Board
of Governors (having served as Chairman of IATA from 2012 to 2013). He is also
a Director of a number of controlled entities of the Qantas Group.

Mr Joyce was the CEO of Jetstar from 2003 to 2008. Before
that, Mr Joyce spent over 15 years in leadership positions with Qantas, Ansett
and Aer Lingus. At both Qantas and Ansett, he led the network planning,
schedules planning and network strategy functions. Prior to that, Mr Joyce
spent eight years at Aer Lingus, where he held roles in sales, marketing, IT,
network planning, operations research, revenue management and fleet planning.

Age: 47

Maxine
Brenner

BA, LLB

Independent Non-Executive Director

Maxine Brenner was
appointed to the Qantas Board in August 2013.

She is a Member of the Remuneration Committee and the
Audit Committee.

Ms Brenner is a Director of Origin Energy Limited, Orica
Limited, Growthpoint Properties Australia Limited and the State Library of NSW
Foundation. She is also a Member of the Advisory Panel of the Centre for Social
Impact at the University of New South Wales.

Ms Brenner was previously a Managing Director of
Investment Banking at Investec Bank (Australia) Limited, the Deputy Chairman of
Federal Airports Corporation and a Director of Neverfail Springwater Limited,
Bulmer Australia Limited and Treasury Corporation of NSW. She also served as a
Member of the Australian Government's Takeovers Panel.

Earlier, she practised as a lawyer with Freehills and was
a law lecturer at the Universities of New South Wales and Sydney.

Age: 51

Richard
Goodmanson

BEng(Civil), BCom, BEc, MBA

Independent Non-Executive Director

Richard Goodmanson
was appointed to the Qantas Board in June 2008.

He is Chairman of the Safety, Health, Environment and
Security Committee and a Member of the Nominations Committee.

Mr Goodmanson is a Director of Rio Tinto plc and Rio
Tinto Limited.

From 1999 to 2009 he was Executive Vice President and
Chief Operating Officer of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. Previous to
this role, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of America West
Airlines. Mr Goodmanson was also previously Senior Vice President of Operations
for Frito-Lay Inc. and was a Principal at McKinsey & Company Inc. He spent
10 years in heavy civil engineering project management, principally in South
East Asia.

Mr Goodmanson was born in Australia and is a citizen of
both Australia and the United States.

Age: 66

Jacqueline
Hey

BCom, Assoc Dip (Marketing), GAICD

Independent Non-Executive Director

Jacqueline Hey was
appointed to the Qantas Board in August 2013.

She is a Member of the Audit Committee.

Ms Hey is a Director of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited
and is Chairman of its Change & Technology Committee and a Member of its
Audit and Risk Committees. She is also a Director of the Australian Foundation
Investment Company Limited, Special Broadcasting Service, Melbourne Business
School and Cricket Australia, and a Member of the ASIC Director Advisory Panel.

Ms Hey is the Honorary Consul for Sweden in Victoria.

Between 2004 and 2010, Ms Hey was Managing Director of
various Ericsson entities in Australia and New Zealand, the United Kingdom and
Ireland and the Middle East. Her executive career with Ericsson spanned for
more than 20 years in which she held finance, marketing, sales and leadership
roles.

Age: 47

Garry
Hounsell

BBus(Acc), FCA, CPA, FAICD

Independent Non-Executive Director

Garry Hounsell was
appointed to the Qantas Board in January 2005.

He is Chairman of the Audit Committee and a Member of the
Nominations Committee.

Mr Hounsell is Chairman of PanAust Limited and a Director
of DuluxGroup Limited and Treasury Wine Estates Limited. He is also Chairman of
Investec Global Aircraft Fund and a Director of Ingeus Limited.

Mr Hounsell was formerly a Director of Orica Limited and
Nufarm Limited and Deputy Chairman of Mitchell Communication Group Limited. He
was also a former Senior Partner of Ernst & Young, Chief Executive Officer
and Country Managing Partner of Arthur Andersen and a Board Member of law firm
Herbert Smith Freehills.

Age: 59

William
Meaney

BScMEng, MSIA

Independent Non-Executive Director

William Meaney was
appointed to the Qantas Board in February 2012.

He is a Member of the Safety, Health, Environment and
Security Committee and the Remuneration Committee

Mr Meaney is the President and Chief Executive Officer of
Iron Mountain Inc. He is a Member of the Asia Business Council and also serves
as Trustee of Carnegie Mellon University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Mr Meaney was formerly the Chief Executive Officer of The
Zuellig Group and a Director of moksha8 Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He was also the
Managing Director and Chief Commercial Officer of Swiss International Airlines
and Executive Vice President of South African Airways responsible for sales,
alliances and network management.

Prior to these roles, Mr Meaney spent 11 years providing
strategic advisory services at Genhro Management Consultancy, as the Founder
and Managing Director, and as a Principal with Strategic Planning Associates.

Mr Meaney holds United States, Swiss and Irish
citizenships.

Age: 53

Paul
Rayner

BEc, MAdmin, FAICD

Independent Non-Executive Director

Paul Rayner was
appointed to the Qantas Board in July 2008.

He is Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and a Member
of the Nominations Committee.

Mr Rayner is Chairman of Treasury Wine Estates Limited
and a Director of Centrica plc. He is also a Director of Boral Limited and
Chairman of its Audit Committee.

From 2002 to 2008, Mr Rayner was Finance Director of British
American Tobacco plc based in London. Mr Rayner joined Rothmans Holdings
Limited in 1991 as its Chief Financial Officer and held other senior executive
positions within the Group, including Chief Operating Officer of British
American Tobacco Australasia Limited from 1999 to 2001.

Previously Mr Rayner worked for 17 years in various
finance and project roles with General Electric, Rank Industries and the Elders
IXL Group.

Age: 60

Barbara
Ward, AM

BEc, MPolEc

Independent Non-Executive Director

Barbara Ward was
appointed to the Qantas Board in June 2008.

She is a Member of the Safety, Health, Environment and
Security Committee and the Audit Committee.

Ms Ward is a Director of a number of Brookfield Multiplex
Group companies, O'Connell Street Associates Pty Ltd and the Sydney Children's
Hospital Foundation.

She was formerly a Director of the Commonwealth Bank of
Australia, Lion Nathan Limited, Brookfield Multiplex Limited, Allco Finance
Group Limited, Rail Infrastructure Corporation, Delta Electricity, Ausgrid,
Endeavour Energy and Essential Energy. She was also Chairman of Country Energy
and NorthPower, a Board Member of Allens Arthur Robinson and on the Advisory
Board of LEK Consulting.

Ms Ward was Chief Executive Officer of Ansett Worldwide
Aviation Services from 1993 to 1998. Before that, Ms Ward held various
positions at TNT Limited, including General Manager Finance, and also served as
a Senior Ministerial Adviser to The Hon PJ Keating.

Age: 60

……………..

So, away with all these parasites!

Let’s soar through the skies on the wings of independence
and socialism.